


Where Does One Put the Horse?

by CaptainNinapants



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Marriage Proposal, Period-Typical Sexism, Post-Endgame, Romance, Secret Relationship, Unplanned Pregnancy, every single trope, slightly comedic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-11 16:37:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19931164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainNinapants/pseuds/CaptainNinapants
Summary: Peggy goes to the doctor because she thinks she's sick; Steve tells her to go to the doctor because he thinks its something more.





	Where Does One Put the Horse?

**Author's Note:**

> You know exactly what this story is. It's every single trope but I enjoyed myself while writing it too much to care.

After taking a few bites of the meager breakfast in front of her, Peggy ran off to the bathroom and Steve followed close on her heels, holding her hair back as she kneeled at the altar of porcelain and paid her dues. 

“How are you feeling?” He asked after she finished, having turned to face him. She slumped off her knees and sat on the floor. 

“Better.” As soon as she said that a second wave hit, and she moved back to the toilet and vomited again. She wasn’t sure how she could still be sick like this after having barely eaten. “Worse.” 

“Maybe I should take you to the hospital before I leave.” Steve furrowed his eyebrows in concern for Peggy, who really had been sicker than usual for the spring despite her atrocious allergies. But because everything was hitting at once, it was nearly impossible to tell what was symptomatic of something else, and what was just her body’s natural aversion to pollen. Though he never could remember her allergies being so bad that she would throw up. 

“I’ll be fine. It’s just the flu or something. I probably caught it at work.” Peggy stood up, wiped her face with a towel, and got her toothbrush wet. Steve stood and leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed against his chest. It was still novel to him that he got to live a domestic life with Peggy after having spent the last ten years in a world where she was old and forgetful, until she wasn’t anymore. There were still moments he couldn’t believe the woman in front of him was real, as though this whole thing was just an illusion. 

“Well maybe you should stop licking doorknobs.” Steve replied and Peggy wanted to wipe the smirk off his face. 

“I probably wouldn’t have caught anything if it weren’t for your constant visits to the office.” Thanks to her recent promotion, Peggy had found herself in a new office with a door that locked and its own bathroom. There was just something about the post-war free time, the high-risk job, and the fact Steve was back in her arms instead of frozen in the ice that made the temptation this new setting provided nearly impossible to resist. 

Not that Peggy ever risked her job to get a piece of Steve. 

“I don’t have to go to Berlin, you know. You could just take me off it and I promise I’ll take care of you.” Steve pointed out, desperately hoping that Peggy would see some sense and let him take care of her. But if she was going to be so obstinate, perhaps there was no point in this at all. He suspected that this wasn’t at all what she thought it was, though, but rather something else entirely. But suggesting she was pregnant instead of letting her figure it out on her own seemed like a bad idea. 

“I’m almost ready for work. Why don’t you to get the car ready?” Peggy murmured, the toothbrush sticking out of her mouth. 

***

“Your flight leaves at 1100, so I suppose you could stop by the office and say goodbye at maybe 1030? That gives you plenty of time. And I made you a sandwich for your trip, but since I used up the last of the sliced ham you should probably eat it today.” Peggy held the file for Steve’s trip in front of her, skimming it, trying to forget that she was the one who suggested he go for two weeks. 

“I’m not even good enough for the new sandwich meat?” Steve laughed. He drove, one hand on the wheel and the other holding Peggy’s hand in the console. He looked so handsome in his brown fatigues that Peggy couldn’t help but sneak a few well-intentioned glances, ones that she would think of while he was gone. 

“I didn’t want it to go to waste because I wasn’t going to eat it.” Peggy said matter-of-factly. “Agent Wilkins is your second in command, so I suggest delegating as much as you can because he will get bored otherwise. You have Agent Reeves on this assignment too.” 

“Agent Reeves? Peggy, between this and the old sandwich meat? I’m begging you, take me off the mission. I think I’d be better suited nursing you back to health.” 

“You know fully why I can’t do that, Captain Rogers.” Peggy replied, sarcastically emphasizing Steve’s status, where now she had more power than him since her promotion. It was hard not to let it go straight to her head when it came to Steve, and how she had to fight that selfish urge to keep him at home all to herself. 

“Yeah, I know. It’s just that with you being sick, I don’t really want you to be all alone.” Steve sounded concerned and he squeezed Peggy’s hand. “You know I love you, right?” 

“Yes, I know, Steve. You tell me every day.” Peggy smiled and squeezed back. He had only been back maybe six months, but it felt like they had just picked up where they had ended all those years ago. Sure, there were growing pains, but what couple didn’t have problems? Sure, theirs were more complicated than most, what with Steve having been to Peggy’s funeral and Peggy having gone to Steve’s. But they made it work, and that made Peggy feel a comfortable warmth in her chest, of happiness but maybe a little something else. 

“And even though you’re gross when you’re sick, I’m still the luckiest man in the world.” That warmth Peggy felt in her chest was decidedly unromantic, and her throat got tight. Really, this again? Peggy thought as Steve kept talking. “I am so thankful every morning I wake up and I see you there next to me, Pegs. I got a second chance, and I want to do it right and spend it with you—"

“Are you proposing to me again, Steve?” Peggy interrupted, trying to look straight ahead in the moving car, hoping to ride out this wave of nausea. It was entirely unrelated to Steve being so sweet to her, which she felt could be a side effect of him going off to Berlin, but she didn’t want him to think that she was so repulsed by the idea of marrying him that she would throw up. 

“Yes, why? Are you feeling okay?” Steve glanced at Peggy, who had set his file down on her lap and was clutching the dashboard as though they were going through turbulence. Her face was pale. 

“Maybe. But Steve, I’m just not ready to get married yet. Things are going so well, and I just got you back. Can’t we just take some more time and savor what we have?” Steve couldn’t help but feel a little gutted; it never felt good to be rejected, but he knew Peggy had a point. 

They were silent for a moment, Steve pondering what Peggy had just said as Peggy tried to figure out if she was going to need him to pull over or not. She felt bad having to shut Steve down again, but she just wasn’t ready yet. He had only proposed two other times, and she wondered if this was some strange impulse he brought with him from the future. Sure, their relationship had always had the risk of death during the war, and marriage was kind of the ultimate action to take then. Peggy had known plenty of soldiers who got married right before they got drafted with the express intention of finally taking their sweetheart to bed. But there wasn’t the rush, anymore. And most knew better than to say anything about her and Steve living in perceived sin. 

“When do you think you’ll be ready for that next step?” He asked. 

“I don’t know, dear. I wish I did. But just because I don’t want to get married quite yet doesn’t mean I don’t love you.” A wave of energy came through to Peggy, relieving her from the fatigued state she had been. Could this be her second wind? 

“I know, Pegs. I love you too.” 

That nausea that she thought she had beat had come back. She felt the pressure in the back of her throat and started to point at the side of the road. 

“Are you going to throw up?” Steve asked, the tone shifting to concern. Peggy nodded. 

“Mhm.” 

Just as Steve pulled the car over Peggy opened the door and stood in the ditch, retching. Steve got out and stood next to her, patting her back. 

“I’m taking you to the medic once we get to the base.” Steve declared, handing Peggy a napkin so she could wipe her mouth. She looked at her feet as she walked up the soft grass ditch, her heels sinking into the dirt. 

“Fine, I suppose you’re right. But it’s just allergies.” 

Steve followed Peggy back to the car. 

“Sure it is.” 

***

The medic’s office was a small building near the entrance of the base. Steve had gotten to know a few of the doctors from having to take his men there, or for those annoying tests that they insisted putting him through since he had come from the future. Of course, that was classified information and the nurses only saw him as a handsome man and looked at him in ways that Peggy did when they were alone. But otherwise, it was kind of a one stop shop for many purposes, and that was why Howard Stark was hanging around the entry, chatting up nurses, trying to fix the pounding in his head. And he was the first-person Peggy noticed when she walked into the little office, Steve right behind her. 

“Good morning you two!” Howard joyfully welcomed them. Peggy paused and wobbled a little backwards. Steve’s hand was right there at the small of her back to steady her. 

“Good morning Stark.” Steve said for Peggy. Howard was grinning ear to ear. 

“I’m sure I don’t want to know what you two have been up to that you need to visit the medic.” 

Peggy, if she wasn’t trying to keep down whatever was still in her stomach, would have been more than willing to wipe the smirk off that man’s face. And while Howard knew about her and Steve’s relationship and the extent of it, it wasn’t supposed to be public knowledge. In fact, the only reason Steve got hired at their base in the first place was because Howard had stepped in and lobbied for it, saying he believed Steve and Peggy working together in the same place wouldn’t be a problem. And for that she was thankful. But his presence felt like an intrusion on her own privacy, and she kind of wanted to yell at him about it. 

“Peggy’s just been feeling a bit under the weather.” Steve kept speaking for Peggy, and in any other circumstance she would have hated it. But right now, she didn’t mind it and beelined straight for the nurse on duty. The nurse led her off to one of the rooms and left Steve alone with Howard. Instead of standing awkwardly, Steve leaned against the front counter with Howard. He wasn’t about to just drop Peggy off and leave her, not when she’s been so sick recently. The men in his battalion could wait half an hour, this was more important. 

“That’s unfortunate.” Howard said, turning and facing Steve more conversationally. “How long has she been sick?” 

“Well, Agent Carter’s—” 

“Cut the bullshit, Steve.” 

“Fine.” Steve smiled. It was hard not to be friendly with Howard, even if he was being kind of intrusive. “Peggy has really bad allergies, but they’ve been a lot worse this spring. She says it’s because of the high pollen count.” 

“Mhm.” Howard fished in his pocket. “Want a smoke? I want a smoke. Let’s go.” 

***

In the patient room, Peggy sat quietly in a chair, looking at the posters on the walls. The nurse had asked all the normal questions and then taken some blood for testing. But Peggy had paused when she was asked when her last menstrual cycle had been. The nurse shot her a glance when Peggy asked to see a calendar, which made Peggy want to shrink into her skin, a feeling she didn’t often have. Even just having to ask that question, Peggy began piecing together everything, coming to a resolution that she was honestly a little scared to face.

But in those few quiet moments between the nurse’s exit and the doctor’s entrance, Peggy tried to make peace with what she was sure she was about to hear. 

***

Steve was not handling Howard’s suggestion that Peggy might be pregnant well. He didn’t even smoke but was coughing, choking on Howard’s cigarette smoke like he had a bad pull.

“You can’t be serious.” 

“You said it yourself, my man. She’s been nauseous, tired, and you said her ankles were swollen? If I didn’t know better—” 

“and you might not, you’re not that kind of Doctor, Stark.” Steve rebutted. His heart was beating faster. 

“—I would say you and Peggy are expecting a little bundle of joy in, oh maybe…” Howard pretended to count his fingers, counting the cigarette perched between his pointer and middle fingers as an extra one. “Nine months?” 

“Howard, I think we better wait for the doctor.” Steve would be lying if he said he didn’t think about the possibility of pregnancy, but to have it become so real suddenly, and for Howard to be the one telling him? This was almost unbelievable. 

“Also, this is total proof you and Peggy have had sex at least once. Good job, Steve, catching a gal like that. You really got lucky when she decided she liked you the most.” 

Steve turned his face away a little bashfully. “I did get lucky, but you know she’d kill you if she heard you right now.” 

“Good thing she isn’t here.” 

Steve looked at Howard after regaining his composure. 

“Howard, I’m freaking out.” 

***

The doctor’s office was so quiet Peggy could hear the clacking of typewriters down the hall. 

“…so, you should probably cut down on the caffeine. Pick up some prenatal vitamins at the pharmacy when you get back to town tonight, and I will give you a referral to an OBGYN who can take better care of you.” The doctor spoke softly, pushing his glasses up on his nose with a stubby index finger. 

“Okay.” Peggy folded her hands in her lap, running her thumb up and down her other hand anxiously. She wasn’t ready for this, or maybe she was. It was just so sudden. 

“Like I said earlier, just because the early bloodwork shows a positive, it isn’t entirely conclusive. I’ll call you if anything changes.” The doctor turned a page in the file. “And if I may, Agent Carter, might I suggest getting a fake wedding ring.” 

“Excuse me?” She took a second to process his words. Of course, he would say something about her unmarried status, as though that little gold band would fix all her problems. She wanted to get angry about it, but part of what she was feeling inside was the guilt of being pregnant outside of wedlock. All her life she had been conditioned to believe that what was happening to her right now was sinful, and even though she had thought herself a more modern woman, the reality still hurt. 

“A fake wedding ring, ma’am. A few other women on base were… in a similar situation… and they came back to me saying they were being treated poorly in town. The doctor I’m referring you to is great, it’s just that he will treat you like some unmarried,” The doctor looked Peggy up and down, “floozy.”

The doctor saying this made Peggy feel more mad than guilty as she clenched her fists and bit her tongue. He was going to recommend her to probably a buddy of his, knowing both her situation and how this other doctor treats women. Why become an OBGYN at all if he wasn’t willing to treat all women? Peggy was upset that the Doctor had told her this, but it wasn’t something entirely unexpected. She stood up and smoothed her skirt. “Well if that is all, then I must be going. Please send the paperwork I need to my office. Thank you, Doctor.” 

With that, Peggy walked out of the office, her mind going a mile a minute. According to her blood, and her blood doesn’t lie, she was pregnant. It was Steve’s. And it wasn’t like they didn’t know what they were doing, but just one time they weren’t as careful as they normally are, and now they were going to have a baby. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing at all, since she had talked with Steve and they both had agreed they wanted to start a family. Sure, it was a little soon, but nothing they couldn’t handle. They were going to raise this baby, her and Steve. 

Steve. Shit, Peggy thought, remembering she needed to tell him. They needed to talk about this, and there really couldn’t be worse timing. Maybe if she called the right people and called it an emergency? She looked at her watch. There was still enough time to get to him before he was due to meet with her, but she had to do her job yet today too. 

The morning sun was warm, and Peggy hoped as she stepped outside that it wouldn’t make her feel nauseous. She stood in the entry way for a second before noticing Steve and Howard standing slightly off to the side, still talking. Howard had a cigarette in between his fingers. 

“How’d it go?” Howard asked loudly, and Peggy walked over towards the two. Peggy felt small between the two men. If pregnancy was just going to be feeling vulnerable like this for nine months, she would go crazy. 

“Howard, don’t you have somewhere to be?” She dramatically looked at her watch, puckering her lips. At least she could talk to Steve now, instead of having to wait. The waiting would have made her even more anxious. 

Steve turned towards her a little sheepish that he didn’t notice that Peggy was there. Before he could say anything, Howard spoke again. “You’re probably right, Peggy. I think I’m going to duck out, congratulations you two.” 

Howard smiled big and then left, turning his back and making his way to wherever they had set him up for this week. She looked up at Steve. 

“Congratulations? How’d he-Do you?” Her eyes were wide and Steve could tell Peggy was just as freaked out as he was. But the feeling of love, of wanting to be next to her and supporting her, and wanting so desperately to raise this child together overrode any anxiety that Steve had been feeling. 

“I don’t-- I didn’t—” Steve stammered. Peggy looked around and saw a few cars pulling through the entry of the base. Perhaps it would better for her and Steve to find somewhere more private to discuss this whole situation. 

“Why don’t we go for a walk.” Peggy said, turning and beginning to walk towards her office on base, where she was expecting a grumpy Phillips to ask why she was running late. Steve stopped stammering and followed her, walking next to her but at a distance that would have just made it look like some sort of official business. 

“So what did the doctor say?” Steve asked, catching up with Peggy, who was walking quicker than normal. Her anxiety was getting the better of her. 

“I’m pregnant. We’re pregnant?” Peggy spoke, her words rushing past her lips. She looked at Steve. “We’re pregnant.” 

Despite whatever Howard had speculated, the way Peggy said it made Steve realize the reality of the situation. Just when he had thought he had gotten control over himself again, thinking he could handle this like a rational adult, he was back to being just as panicky as he had been before. 

“Oh my god.” Steve managed to stutter, looking at Peggy with the biggest grin on his face and then looking down at his feet. “That’s...great?” He asked, testing the waters. He couldn’t tell if Peggy was excited or not. 

“Yes!” Peggy reassured him. 

“It’s kind of sudden, but we both wanted a family—” Steve started, looking ahead and watching groups of men moving to where they need to be, kicking up dust as they roved.

“—About that.” Peggy said and Steve’s heart dropped. Whatever she was going to say couldn’t be good. “While it might be more okay in the time you came from, it isn’t so okay to be unmarried and pregnant. Not everyone knows about us, and even then, could you imagine the trouble we’d get in if it got out that Captain America knocked someone up?” 

Steve found the idea laughable, like people would care, before realizing he wasn’t in the future. Peggy was right. It was her job on the line, not his. He would be fine; Peggy hadn’t really worked in anything but the military, and she still hadn’t gotten her U.S. citizenship squared away. 

“Well, what should we do?” He asked, trying to mitigate his conflicting feelings of concern and joy. 

“For starters, I don’t think we should tell anyone we don’t have to. Howard already knows, so let’s hope he has the sense to keep his mouth shut.” Peggy was a sharp strategist; she had figured out some of this even while she was back in the doctor’s office. “Then I think we will have to talk when you get back from Berlin about what we’re going to do. It’ll be a short two weeks, I promise.” 

“Are you sure there’s nothing we can do about cancelling the trip? I don’t want to leave you so soon.” Steve was having a hard time wrapping his head around this, just as Peggy had worried he might. Finding out only hours before he had to leave for Berlin was bad enough, the fact that the trip was two weeks was worse. 

“I know, Steve. I can ask, but that means telling more people.” Peggy sighed, working her way closer to Steve even if it became a less professional distance. “I kind of want to keep this to ourselves for a little bit. Just until we figure more things out.” 

They were silent for a bit, walking along the side of the dirt road. Their hands brushed, pinkies occasionally linking as Jeeps drove by, stirring up clouds of dirt. Peggy wanted to say something but struggled to find the words. What exactly could she say? She was wondering what Steve could be thinking right now. Was he just as freaked out as she was? 

“I’m still excited about this, you know. We’re going to be parents, Peggy!” Steve said, looking at her and grinning boyishly. His smile was contagious, and Peggy found herself smiling at him, trying to be as excited as he was. Why couldn’t she just be happy about this? This amazing thing that was happening for her and Steve, and she had the audacity to be so scared. If Peggy couldn’t manage to even be excited about her pregnancy, did she even have the maternal instinct to be a good mother? What kind of mother wouldn’t immediately fall in love with the little clump of cells that would be come a baby? It was all just so much at once, and Peggy couldn’t stop thinking about all the things that would happen as a ripple from this one larger event. She could lose her job, among other things. 

“What if I came up with something?” 

“Like what?” Peggy asked Steve, her tone incredulous. Leave it to Steve to come up with some sort of solution. 

“I could just tell Phillips I’m sick, or you’re sick and I need to take care of you.” Steve gently nudged her with his shoulder. “Or I could just ask nicely.” 

“Steve, I’m just,” she looked around and whispered, “pregnant. I’m not sick, I’m not dying.” 

They had finally reached the building Peggy’s office was in. She opened the door and walked in, Steve following close on her heels. She would have been okay with that if it weren’t for the fact Phillips was standing by her desk, ready to usher Peggy into his office immediately, probably about something urgent that would then be followed by a soft reprimand for being a little late. Phillips had wanted her to go to the doctor as well, so he wouldn’t be mad about her being late because of it, but he might be mad about why. 

“Captain Rogers, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Phillips demanded after Steve followed Peggy into the office and closed the door behind him. Steve couldn’t stand the thought of leaving so suddenly. He didn’t want to take any risks when it came to Peggy, to their relationship, to their new family. Sure, the military could be difficult, but Phillips didn’t scare Steve anymore. They had become friends, almost, and surely Phillips would be sympathetic to their situation.

“Colonel Phillips, I’m sorry to interrupt but—” 

“Don’t you have somewhere to be, Rogers.” Phillips barked. Peggy was already mortified – she just wanted the rest of the day to go back to normal. Sure, it wasn’t exactly possible, but she wanted it. She felt her cheeks flush bright red and, if she couldn’t have things back to normal, she wanted desperately to just disappear, to sink into the chair she was sitting in. The room was so hot and stuffy, and it felt like Peggy couldn’t breathe. A wave of nausea threatened her. 

“This is more urgent, sir.” Steve kept a neutral face, watching Peggy adjust in the chair she sat in and hoping she wouldn’t be too pissed at him. 

Phillips sat down in his seat. “I’m not sure what could be more urgent than global security, but alright, entertain me.” 

Phillips had been more than gracious when Peggy called him two days after Steve reappeared and told him what had happened. Sure, there wasn’t really a use for Captain America like there had been during the war, but Phillips couldn’t deny he was a great soldier. He helped forge papers for Steve (they had decided he could keep his name but change his middle name) and found him a position on base helping train men and leading the occasional mission. They were still on the fence about bringing back the Captain America mantle, though, since doing so would put a target on Steve’s back, and by extension Peggy’s. 

“With all respects, sir, don’t you think there are enough men on this mission?” Steve asked, stepping forward and folding his hands in front of him. He was nervous, not one for this kind of confrontation, and Steve knew that Phillips was about to call him out for this uncharacteristic suggestion. “I could spend my time better here in the office helping strategize for the reconnaissance mission in Brazil than in Berlin.”

“You’ve never been a man to step down.” Phillips masked whatever he was thinking but twiddled with a pen between his fingers. “What changed, Rogers?” 

Steve glimpsed at Peggy with a smirk on his face. Peggy, staring intently at a yellowed newspaper clipping framed and hung on the wall just past Phillips’ head, didn’t notice as she had tuned the men out. “Well, Sir, I don’t think I’m at liberty to tell why, but I’m needed somewhere else right now.” 

Phillips rolled his eyes. “You two lovebirds have something you want to tell me, or am I going to have to find out about it through the grapevine like everyone else.” 

Steve looked at Peggy again and raised his eyebrow, trying to get her permission to spill the secret. Sensing this time all the eyes in the room looking at her, she bit her lip. Steve really had cornered her into it, and she was kind of angry that he did so. But Phillips would appreciate being told now than later, and they could start making alternate arrangements for when she couldn’t go on assignments anymore or would need maternity leave. A part of Peggy wanted to throw up, she was so nervous; She had no control, and to be in such a vulnerable position was new. 

“I didn’t want to tell you, or anyone for that matter, but we’re expecting.” Peggy’s voice trembled. Saying it out loud seemed like jinxing it, and she knew there were still risks and that this pregnancy wasn’t guaranteed, but at the same time it was like a weight was being taken off her shoulders. Telling someone else did help her, it turned out, because it made the situation more real and less scary. Like suddenly it wouldn’t be just Steve and Peggy versus the rest of the world. And who better to be in their corner than Phillips, who was tough and intimidating and knew just about everything Steve and Peggy had been through.

Phillips looked at the both of them with a confused look on his face. “Expecting what?” 

The question took Peggy by surprise. How did he not know the euphemism? Surely she hadn’t been the only woman in his life to be pregnant. Peggy leaned forward in her seat and tried to soften her look. “Chester, I’m pregnant.” 

Suddenly, Phillips stood up from the desk and walked around it and stopped, a serious look on his face. He stood there, leaning against the front of his desk, quietly for a moment before taking a step forward and clapping Steve on the back. “Well congratulations, you two. I’m happy for you, I really am. And I suppose we could postpone the assignment for a week or so. Carter, you and I will have to figure something out for when you start showing.” 

Steve and Peggy both relaxed, unaware that they had been holding any tension in their shoulders. Peggy felt like she could breathe again and stood up. Earlier she had been upset with Steve, trapping her in this conversation, but now she was kind of thankful he had. Otherwise the anxiety would have been all consuming. 

“Sounds good, sir. Thank you for being so accommodating.” Steve walked over to Peggy and put his arm around her shoulder. “We sure could use the time.” 

Peggy couldn’t help but smile. 

“And while you’re at it, use that time to get married. Kind of putting the cart before the horse, you two.” Phillips said, only kind of joking, and eyeing Peggy’s bare hand. Peggy found her face get hot at the suggestion coming from her boss. She was tired of everyone mentioning that, like getting married would be the solution to all her potential problems. 

“Now get back to work.” 

“Thank you, Colonel.” 

***

They were curled up together on the bed, the curtains pulled just enough so that a sliver of moonlight could illuminate the room. 

“Did you end up eating that sandwich?” Peggy asked, her head on Steve’s chest. Steve enjoyed having Peggy so close to him, watching her in these quiet moments as she ran her fingers along the hem of the blanket. She was so beautiful, and Steve felt so lucky to have her back in his life. Especially in these little moments where she let her otherwise tough act drop, where she was just as soft and emotionally exposed as Steve was. He wondered how she was doing with everything. 

“Yes, and it was delicious. Thank you.” He kissed the top of her head. 

They laid there in silence for a few moments. 

“So… I’ve been thinking.” 

“You do that quite a bit.” Steve replied and started rubbing the small of her back with his thumb. She let out a little appreciative sound, and Steve wondered if she could already be having back pain from the baby. Their baby. 

“Phillips was right. We really did put the cart before the horse, didn’t we?” Peggy said, like it was an admission of guilt. She didn’t intend it like that, but her whole life she had been taught that babies to unwed mothers were sinful, and it was hard to shake that feeling. 

“Pegs, don’t worry about what he thinks.” 

“I’m not worried about what anyone thinks. We’ve never been about tradition.” Peggy defended herself and their unique relationship, looking up and smiling at Steve. “And it’s not like we didn’t know what we were doing.” 

She moved one of her hands below the sheets, proving her point as Steve raised his eyebrows. Even in the dark and making a stupid face, he was gorgeous. Her heart beat quicker, accelerating as she worked herself up. 

“And I know this morning I told you that I just plain not ready yet, and that I wanted to spend more time with just us.” 

It took Steve a moment to figure out what Peggy was referring to, forgetting that only that morning he had tried to propose to her and suffered the subsequent blow to his ego. But he couldn’t stay mad about it, since Peggy did have good reasoning, and he really didn’t want to rush her into anything she didn’t feel ready for. 

“But I hate it when people keep bringing up that we aren’t married. I hate those looks, like we’re breaking the rules or something. It’s just so prying, and it makes me feel like I’m wearing my skin inside out. And if there’s one thing I’m worried about during the pregnancy, it’s feeling so entirely vulnerable. Steve, you know me, and you know I’m not. But I can’t trust everyone else knows that.” 

Peggy had shifted up so that she could look into Steve’s eyes as she talked without crooning her neck uncomfortably. Her eyes were watering, threatening to spill over, unable to deal with all the emotions coming to a peak in this one moment. She was frustrated, but joyous, in love but terrified, and had never in a hundred years thought she would have to deal with such a mixture. 

“Pegs, if you’re suggesting we get married because people are assholes—” Steve started, a little worried that Peggy was acting uncharacteristically, just giving in because of what some people thought. He loved her for her strength and had never thought that pregnancy was something that would get in the way of that. 

“Shush, let me finish.” She put a finger to his lips. “I don’t want to get married because some people can’t mind their own business. For whatever reason, I just didn’t feel ready to get married. But this morning, after you left, I realized that despite all the anxiety, I do feel ready to have this baby.” Peggy laughed, still incredulous at the conclusion she had come to. Saying it out loud felt so weird for whatever reason. She had spent a fair amount of time at work struggling with how calm she was feeling, now that the shock had worn off. 

Steve smiled, obviously excited that Peggy had realized this. 

“So I figured if I felt ready to have a baby, then maybe I am ready to get married. And I love you so much, Steve. You really are the only person I want to spend the rest of my life with, and now that we have this second chance, I feel we better take it. There is no one else in the world I would rather start a family with.” 

Peggy’s heart felt like it had grown larger, somehow, ready to burst from her chest. Her nerves were getting to her and her hands began to shake. 

“Peggy. Pegs. Peg.” Steve said, scooting so he was sitting up, his back against the headboard of the bed. Peggy was forced to move, so she sat up facing him, pulling the blanket around her shoulders like a cape. 

“Steve, will you marry me?” She asked quietly, looking at Steve’s handsome face, his eyes bright and excited. Before she even finished the question, Steve had leaned in and answered her.

“In a heartbeat.” He leaned forward and kissed her, his hand caressing her jaw and pulling her closer to him. She leaned into the kiss; his soft lips pressed against hers and his mouth tasted like toothpaste. But despite that she could feel his love for her, his undying affection, and wondered what she had done to deserve such dedication. She was often surprised by how much love she had for Steve, too, and the constant realizations of just how much he meant to her. 

When she had to pull away from the kiss for air, she felt a little disappointed. She rested her forehead on Steve’s and let his hand trace down her neck to her shoulder, and down her chest. 

“Don’t move.” Steve said, suddenly moving away from her and getting off the bed. Before Peggy could ask, Steve left the room only to return moments later with a ring box he had no doubt been carrying in his coat for the past month. 

He sat back down on the bed, this time next to Peggy, and opened the box, offering it to her. They looked at the ring together, heads touching. The little box, and the dainty looking ring looked even more so in Steve’s strong hands. It glinted in the light. 

“It’s beautiful.” Peggy said. Steve set the box down on the bed and held a hand out to Peggy. She placed her hand in his before he took the ring out of the box and slid it on her finger.

“And it’s yours, dear.” Steve paused for a moment, looking down at their hands and then up at Peggy. “I love you Peggy.”

Peggy turned and kissed him, deeply, passionately, letting her lips linger on his. 

“I love you too, Steve.”


End file.
